Amy Adams is in talks to lead another novel adaptation, this time coupled with director Taika Waititi and Jenna Ortega.
IndieWire can confirm that Adams is in negotiations to co-star alongside Ortega in “Klara and the Sun,” with Waititi directing. Based on executive producer Kazuo Ishiguro’s bestselling novel, “Klara and the Sun” follows an Artificial Friend named Klara (Ortega) who was designed to prevent loneliness. A mother (Adams) and her ill teenage daughter, Josie, purchase Klara, and the robot makes it her mission to save Josie and those who love her from heartbreak. In the process, Klara learns the power of human love.
Deadline first reported Adams being in talks for casting. The film is being produced by Heyday Films’ David Heyman, Garrett Basch, and Waititi and will be a Sony 3000 Pictures release. Heyday’s Jeffrey Clifford and Rosie Alison brought the project to Heyday. Drew Reed was instrumental in bringing the project to 3000 Pictures and Sony. Elizabeth Gabler and Aislinn Dunster are overseeing the project for 3000 Pictures.
Ishiguro’s “Klara and the Sun” was published in March 2021. Ishiguro was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature and won a Booker Prize for his novel “The Remains of the Day” and will serve as an executive producer on the film adaptation.
Actress Adams is next starring in Marielle Heller’s “Nightbitch” for Searchlight, releasing in fall 2024. The film is based on Rachel Yoder’s debut novel of the same name. Adams produced the film through her production banner Bond Group Entertainment.
Ortega recently starred in erotic drama “Miller’s Girl” and is leading “Wednesday” Season 2. The “Scream” franchise alum previously revealed that the second installment of the Tim Burton-helmed Netflix series will lean more into the “horror” elements of the “Addams Family” IP, as “each episode will probably feel a little bit more like a movie.”
The actress will also star in A24’s upcoming Trey Edward Shults film alongside Barry Keoghan, plus “Death of a Unicorn.” She also reunites with auteur Burton for “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice 2024,” with Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Monica Bellucci, Justin Theroux, and Willem Dafoe.
Keaton told Empire of the long-awaited sequel, “[Director Tim Burton] and I were talking about it years and years ago, never telling anybody. I said, ‘If it happens, first of all, we’ve both said we’re doing it many times.’ We both agreed, if it happens, it has to be done as close to the way we made it the first time. Making stuff up, making stuff happen, improvising and riffing, but literally handmade stuff like people creating things with their hands and building something. Fucking great. It’s the most fun I’ve had working on a movie in I can’t tell you how long.”